moon phase movement 66r9

MOON PHASE
MOVEMENT 66R9
MARC A. HAYEK
A Very Personal Portrait
ADRIA SUPER TROFEO
An Intense Gentlemen’s Race
A TECHNICAL LOOK AT BLANCPAIN‘S
EXCLUSIVE FULLY SECURE MOON PHASE MOVEMENT
ISSUE 07/2010
DEAR FELLOW WATCH CONNOISSEURS
Welcome to Issue 7!
Of course watch connoisseurs enjoy the
beauty of the handcraft displayed in their
timepieces. Case, dial, view of the movement
through a clear case back, even strap and
buckle display all the care that went into
their creation. Literally, one of the main ways
we enjoy our watches is by looking at
them.
But in this issue, we focus on something that you can’t see, a complex calendar movement
that has been specially engineered to be secure. Unlike other complete calendar moon
phase movements common in the world of watches, this new 66R9 Blancpain caliber
allows all of its indications to be set at any time, day or night. Contrast this with what
most watch collectors have come to accept — calendar complications that forbid setting
during certain hours (usually at night) in order to prevent damage to the movement. The
66R9 does away with these restrictions and risk of damage. Even though you “can’t
see” the ground breaking design effort that went into the development of this move ment, the security is there every time you set your watch. I hope you enjoy reading
how we at Blancpain found a way to bring this full security to the 66R9 calendar
movement.
Enjoy Issue 7.
Marc A. Hayek
President and CEO Blancpain
CONTENT
04
MOON PHASE MOVEMENT
18
32
Blancpain‘s exclusive fully secure moon
MARC A. HAYEK
11 MADISON PARK
phase movement
A very personal portait
Stellar Swiss chef Daniel Humm
COVER
New complete calendar
mechanism
2|3
44
60
74
CALIFORNIA WINE
ADRIA SUPER TROFEO
EXTREME DIVING
So who is Goliath anyway?
An intense gentlemen‘s race
500 Fathoms
CONTENT
IN TIME
CLOSE UP
4 MOON PHASE MOVEMENT 66R9
A technical study viewed from a technical angle
18 MARC A. HAYEK
A very personal portrait
ART DE VIVRE
32 11 MADISON PARK
Stellar Swiss chef Daniel Humm
ART DE VIVRE
44 CALIFORNIA WINE
So who is Goliath anyway?
ART DE VIVRE
60 ADRIA SUPER TROFEO
An intense gentlemen‘s race
IN TIME
NEWS
74 EXTREME DIVING
500 Fathoms
86 BLANCPAIN NEWS WIRE
88 IMPRINT
IN TIME
4|5
66R9
SHOW OF HANDS. WHO RELISHES READING A WATCH OWNERS MANUAL? BETTER STILL
— AND DON’T HESITATE WITH THOSE HANDS — WHO GETS LITTLE JOLTS OF PLEASURE
PAWING THROUGH DUSTY WATCH BOXES STREWN IN THE BACK OF LITTLE USED CLOSETS,
SEARCHING FOR THAT OWNERS MANUAL? CONFIDENT IN SAYING THIS: IT IS ALMOST A
CERTAINTY THAT NONE OF OUR GENTLE READERS HAS DETACHED FROM THIS MOMENT
IN GAUZY RECALL OF WONDERFUL INTERLUDES SPENT TOUS LES DEUX WITH AN OWNERS
MANUAL. CAN I SAY IT DIRECTLY? OWNERS MANUALS ARE UNIVERSALLY UNLOVED.
BY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON
IN TIME
6|7
HOW ABOUT A WATCH MOVEMENT THAT SOLVES THE OWNERS MANUAL PROBLEM BY DOING AWAY WITH ITS USE? A WATCH FOR WHICH THE
OWNER NEVER EVEN ONCE NEEDS TO CONSULT THE MANUAL.
A
nd this is a truism that applies to the whole of the
movement that solves the owners manual problem by doing away
watch world. As much as Blancpain has striven to
with its use? A watch for which the owner never even once needs
distinguish itself from the others with the excellence
to consult the manual.
of its timepieces, it finds itself in the thicket with the
rest when it comes to absence of pleasure that accompanies any
Until now, particularly in the case of watches featuring calendar
encounter with its manuals.
complications, rules for the setting of indications have been a necessity. Offering some excuse for the bristling warnings and bold
What’s to be done about this lamentable state of affairs? Actually
print in the manuals, the rules have been established in order to
nothing. No powers of the muse are sufficient to make it fun to read
protect the owner from breaking his watch during resetting. This is
warnings, writ large in bold print. “It is forbidden to adjust
because calendar complications rely upon the engagement of
the date between the hours of 8pm and midnight” “Cor-
complex and delicate gear mechanisms. The daily processes by
recting risks damaging the movement” “Be sure you have
which day, date, moon phase, and, once a month, month changes
set the watch to am hours not pm hours to avoid risk of
are accomplished are not instantaneous. There is a measurable
damage” Warning after warning. Rules on what can and cannot
period of time during which gears are engaged to advance from
be done. Even the tax code covering capital loss carry forwards
one day to the next. Moreover, since a change of an indication
reads better than this.
consumes energy that otherwise would be exclusively consumed
by the running of the watch, sound watch design dictates that not
So if we are offering no literary solution, resigning ourselves to
all the calendar changes be effectuated at the same time. That
manuals that will in the future be just as joyless and lacking in com-
would drain far too much energy from the barrel. Instead, watch
positional merit, is there to be any relief at all? How about a watch
designers have cleverly imagined calendar plates that advance
IN TIME
Although there is no risk of damage at all if an adjustment is made while the
movement is in the course of doing its change, for the moon phase, day of week
and date changes, if an adjuster is pushed while the automatic daily change is in
progress, the adjuster will simply advance the indication to the next day. If the
owner wants to advance to more than the next day, he will have wait until the
change is finished, or, even more simply, manually advance the time to past 7:30
pm for the moon and 12:30 am for the others.
1
8|9
each of the indications separately, which evens out the drain
plete calendar moon phase complications. Indeed, this complica-
from the barrel and ensures only minimal disturbance of the
tion has become iconic and a lasting symbol of Blancpain. But to
watch’s time keeping. This spreading out of the daily incrementing
achieve complete adjusting freedom for the calendar moon phase
of calendar indications means that for a relatively prolonged
complications required a top to bottom full re-engineering of the
period there will be engagement of various gears as the changes
movement. In its new incarnation the part count for the calendar/
one-by-one occur. If during these changes the owner were to
moon phase plate jumps a full 40 % over the previous version. To
push a corrector manually to advance an indication there would
put this in perspective, arriving at this goal brought the level of
be a great risk of damaging the movement. Hence, the watch
complexity of the calendar/moon phase nearly to that of a full
designers proscribe the times when changes cannot be made.
perpetual calendar!
Think of them as hourly “no fly zones”. This is true industry wide.
Let’s take a tour of the new 66R9 to uncover the clever solutions
With its calibre 66R9 movement which debuted at the 2009 Basel
that allow any time no risk adjustment.
Fair, Blancpain achieved an industry first — a complete calendar
(which means indications for the date, day of the week and
The starting place and for that matter the nerve center for
month) moon phase movement where every single indication
any calendar plate is the 24 hour wheel. As the name suggests,
can be manually changed at any time without risk of damage.
this wheel rotates once every 24 hours and it logical to use
Even if a particular indication is part way through its changing
this wheel to command changes for each of the indications (except
process, using the correctors to adjust manually will cause no
for the month, of course) since they increment forward once
damage . All those rules — no changes between 8pm and mid-
per day. The actual changes themselves are commanded by
night, no adjusting the time backwards through midnight, be sure
a knobby nose (A) which rides along on top of the 24 hour
the watch is set to am not pm before adjustment — the whole lot
wheel (B) (we will see in a moment that the nose while riding
are at once made obsolete and irrelevant. So leave the manual
around on top of the 24 hour wheel, is, in fact, a distinct com-
parked in the dusty recesses of your closet and adjust away to
ponent which is given a degree of freedom to move separately
your heart’s content. There has never been before a complete ca-
from the 24 hour wheel itself). During the evening hours this
lendar moon phase movement which has been capable of
nose, fitted with a roller on its tip, successively comes into contact
such risk free use.
with levers for the moon phase, day of the week and date (in
1
that order) driving gears for each of them forward by one tooth,
Achievement of this world watchmaking first did not come easily.
which is equivalent to a one day advance. This then is the order of
For more than a quarter of a century Blancpain has offered com-
the daily changes: moon, then day of week, then date.
IN TIME
MOON PHASE CHANGE.
of the normal running of the watch. The interplay of the jumper/
spring to hold an indication in place and the slight movement of the
For each of the changes which we are about to examine, there are
nose in the 24 hour wheel trough is a part of the change during the
two distinct issues which need to be considered. First is the mechanism
normal running of the watch for every one of the indications of moon,
for advancement of the indication during the course of the
day of the week and date.
normal running of the watch — which we have learned is commanded
by the nose on the 24 hour wheel — and, second, advancement
To this point we have considered the first half of the moon phase
manually when the owner pushes one of the correctors on the side of
change mechanism — that which occurs during normal running of the
the case.
watch. The second half covers manual correction when the owner
pushes on the corrector on the side of the case. The issue here is
The moon phase change mechanism at first blush seems rather
avoidance of damage to the movement if the manual correction
straightforward. When the nose (A) of 24 hour wheel pin passes by the
were being applied while the moon phase was in the course of chan-
tip of the moon phase change lever (C) it pushes the lever slightly to-
ging. — that is while the end of the moon phase lever was in contact
ward the outside of the movement which, in turn, pivots the other end
with the nose of the 24 hour wheel. To eliminate this risk, the
of the lever towards the moon phase gear (D) advancing the gear one
tooth. However, this is not quite as simple as it at first seems. As we
pointed out above, the nose riding around with the 24 hour wheel is
not fixed to it. Instead, it is carried around by a pin, located on the underneath side of the nose, which protrudes into a “slot” or “trough” in
the 24 hour wheel (B). There are several reasons for this separation of
components. Normally the pin naturally locates itself at the counterclockwise end of the trough, as the rotation of the wheel pushes the
nose along. However, after the nose pushes against the lever for moon
phase advancement, another component of the system takes advantage of the ability of the nose to move independently of the wheel.
B
This is the jumper and spring (E) which hold the moon phase gear in
place. After the nose passes the tip of the lever and the change is
commanded, that spring delivers a push back against the nose, which
A
F
having passed the tip of the cam can now slide forward (clockwise) a
small amount. This small amount of free movement of the nose with
respect to the wheel ensures smooth operation and minimal disruption
C
D
E
10 | 11
manual correction of the moon phase is accomplished with another
pivoting lever (F). At the same time one end of the lever is being
J
pushed against the moon phase gear to advance that gear one tooth,
the other end of the same lever pivots upwards coming in contact with
H
the lever (C) that would otherwise advance the moon with the normal
running of the watch. That upwards pivot pushes this lever away from
and clear of the 24 hour wheel nose. In effect, the action of the manual corrector serves to “disconnect” the moon phase gear and levers
I
from the 24 hour wheel, thus protecting the watch from damage.
G
DAY OF THE WEEK CHANGE.
A
After the 24 hour wheel nose (A) has passed by the moon phase lever
(C), advancing the moon indication by one day, it next encounters the
day of the week lever (G) lever. The basic principle of the change mechanism, is similar to that of the moon phase. The nose of the 24 hour
wheel pushes upon the lever, causing it to pivot so that the point at the
other end of the lever, in turn, will pivot pushing the day of the week
wheel (H) (which of course has 7 teeth, one for each day of the week)
forward by one tooth. The action of the holding jumper-spring (I) and
flexible coupling of the nose to the 24 hour wheel is the same as with
the moon phase.
The system for protection against damage should the owner seek to
advance manually the day of the week while the system is engaged
also is similar to that of the moon phase protection. When the manual
pusher (J) is depressed, one of its ends pushes the lever (G) away from
contact with the nose of the 24 hour wheel. Thus, again the manual
change effectively disconnects the day of the week gear from the
daily automatic change system.
C
IN TIME
M
DATE CHANGE.
The date change mechanism is quite similar to the two previous
systems in its construction. After the nose of the 24 hour wheel (A)
has passed by the day of the week lever (G), it next encounters the
K
L
date lever (K), which because of its length, is called the “grand lever”.
The operating principle is identical. When the nose pushes on one
end of the lever, it pivots and the beak at the opposite end rocks
forward pushing the date gear (L) (and you saw this coming, a gear
G
with 31 teeth) forward one tooth. Again a holding jumper-spring (M)
and flexible coupling of nose to 24 hour wheel are part of the operation.
A
N
The protection system, likewise, functions analogously to that of the
day of the previous two. When the manual corrector is depressed,
the corrector acts directly upon the grand lever (K), pushing it away
from the nose of the 24 hour wheel and at the same time advancing
the date one tooth. The actuation via the manual corrector, however,
is more complex. A push on the corrector actuates a lever (N)
located underneath main date plate. That lever, in turn, pushes a pin
which protrudes on the lower side of the grand lever (K) causing it to
move.
This construction which locates key components underneath the
calendar plate and which places them in operating spaces fashioned
in the movement plate below, sets the 66R9 apart from industry
norms for calendar movements, where the calendar components are
placed on a movement plate that can be mounted on any number of
base movements. Instead with the 66R9, the calendar components
and base components are integrated together and the design for
each takes account of the other.
12 | 13
MONTH CHANGE.
Q
The month change mechanism is somewhat more complex than
those of the other indications. There are two key components, a snail
T
cam (O) and a pivoting lever with a spring finger (P). The snail cam
(O) is mounted underneath the 31 day date wheel (L), thus when the
S
calendar plate is viewed from its dial side, the snail cam is hidden out
of sight. The snail cam (O) turns clockwise as it travels along with the
R
date disk. Throughout this time a finger of the spring lever (P) rides
along the edge of the snail lever (O). At the end of the month, when
the date advances, the finger riding along the snail cam comes to the
P
sharp end of the snail (think of it as a “cliff”) and falls into the lower
position, pushed there by a spring (R) which tensions it against the
snail. This causes the lever (P) to pivot and the spring finger at the
opposite end to pull the month wheel (Q) one tooth forward in a
A
L
O
clockwise direction. The disk, thus, advances to the succeeding month.
In one respect the change of month is different from the other indications. With each of the other indications, the nose (A) of the 24
wheel gradually pushes the individual levers forward. Because that
“bolt” (T). When the month corrector (S) is pushed, this blocking bolt
nose is turning slowly (one revolution per 24 hours), the push and
is pivoted away from the spring end of the lever (P). Thus, if there
consequent change takes a few minutes. For the month change,
were any interference between the manual correction and the lever,
however, once the lever (P) riding on the snail cam (O) encounters
because the end contacting the 12 tooth gear is flexible, it can easily
the drop off, it pivots at once making the month change virtually ins-
be pushed away without damage.
tantaneous.
Because the change is so rapid, there is essentially no period when
the mechanism is engaged so that a manual operation of the month
corrector would interfere. However, even then there is protection designed into the movement. The end of the lever (P) that contacts the
twelve tooth month wheel is flexible, constructed as a spring. It is
prevented from moving away from the 12 tooth gear by a blocking
IN TIME
14 | 15
ADJUSTING TIME BACKWARDS.
There is one final risk to address, that from adjusting the time of
The 66R9 truly represents a watchmaking advance. It has freed
the watch backwards through midnight. Many watches with
its owners from the burdens of damage risks and operational rules.
calendar indications and, for that matter, many watches with only
It is the only complete calendar moon phase that offers this securi-
a date indication forbid backwards time adjustments, passing
ty. Not only that, but it is built upon a base which boasts an extra-
through midnight. This is because the calendar and date mech-
ordinarily long power reserve of eight days. The combination
anisms may be engaged are not protected against backward
of complete calendar moon phase complications and an eight day
adjustment.
running autonomy is a second ground breaking achievement which
is unmatched in the industry. And as for the owners manual? Go
Blancpain has addressed this damage risk as well with the calibre
66R9. When the time is adjusted backwards, the 24 hour wheel (B)
of course turns backwards as well. However each of the levers
it encounters — the grand lever, day of the week lever and moon
phase lever — is shaped to allow the nose (A) of the 24 hour wheel
to pass by the lever if the 24 hour wheel (B) is turning counterclockwise. This harmless reverse passage is aided by the flexible
coupling between the nose (A) and the 24 hour wheel (B). As
the nose is turned backwards past the levers, its pin freely moves
in the slot of the 24 hour wheel. The calendar mechanism is, thus,
fully protected no matter which direction the crown is turned.
ahead; leave it in the closet.
IN TIME
J
H
CALIBER 66R9:
Summary of the mechanisms for changing of moon phase, day of the week,
I
date and month.
G
A
C
B
A
F
C
D
E
16 | 17
DAY OF THE WEEK CHANGE
Key components:
Cam (A)
Day of the week lever (G)
Day of the week wheel (H)
Manual pusher (J)
MONTH CHANGE
Q
Key components:
Snail cam (O)
T
Spring lever (P)
Month wheel (Q)
S
Manual corrector (S)
R
P
O
L
DATE CHANGE
M
Key components:
Cam (A)
Grand lever (K)
Date gear (L)
K
L
G
A
N
MOON PHASE CHANGE
Key components:
Cam (A)
Change lever (C)
Moon phase gear (D)
Manual corrector (F)
Manual corrector (N)
18 | 19
MARC A. HAYEK, A MAN OF
PASSION
CLOS E U P
3
HE HAS ALWAYS MANAGED HIS LIFE AS HE HAS BLANCPAIN SINCE 2002 — WITH DETERMI-
NATION. IMMERSED IN WATCHMAKING SINCE CHILDHOOD, MARC A. HAYEK, 39, HAS CONFIDENTLY TAKEN CHARGE OF HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER BOTH WITHIN THE FAMILY BUSINESS
AND AS AN INDEPENDENT. KEEN ON SPEED, BLANCPAIN’S PRESIDENT IS A BORN COMPETI-
TOR, FOR WITHOUT A CHALLENGE THERE’S NO VITALITY AND THEREFORE NO PROGRESS.
HE’S EQUALLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DIVING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND FOOD. IT ALL SUMS UP
A BUSINESS LEADER WHO HOLDS HIGH THE VALUES HE TREASURES, RESPECT FOR OTHERS
BEING CHIEF AMONG THEM.
BY MICHEL JEANNOT
When the publisher of the Lettres du Brassus asked us to write up a
portrait of Marc Hayek, we immediately faced the choice between
the story of his career and an attempt to unravel the personality of
Blancpain’s president. While his track record is already familiar to interested parties, his character is less so and deserves to be better known.
Thus by steering between the alternative approaches we have decided to shape the portrait between the business leader and the man,
between the team-manager and the enthusiast, between the de-
manding but diplomatic boss and the true friend, and between Marc
and Mr Hayek.
One is immediately struck by his kind and friendly voice, and the respectful attention to his interviewer. From the first meeting with Marc
Hayek it’s almost invariably the same scenario. Pleasant, friendly, smiling, thoughtful, profound and human are the adjectives that usually
come to mind from the start. The 39-year-old boss of Blancpain is a
leader at ease with himself, a leader willingly driven by his zeal, who
respects his elders, honours his family and likes to embark regularly on
new ventures.
20 | 21
CLOS E U P
His life story begins in 1971 in Zurich. He grew up and went to college in this economic
capital of Switzerland, before going to Los Angeles to study marketing and economics. The
highly charged, energetic and welcoming atmosphere of the west coast had everything to
offer an ambitious young man, both keen to get to grips with his first professional assignment,
and drawn to the sea, the beach and diving. But Marc Hayek decided to return to Switzerland,
to his family and friends. It wasn’t an easy choice but human considerations prevailed. Once
he was back in the fold, he was offered a job by his grandfather (known as “senior” by his
intimates) as a marketing and public relations assistant at Swatch. Then there was a new
opportunity with Certina, another Swatch Group brand, in the sponsoring department. This
was involved with motorcycling — another of Marc Hayek’s hobbies that for long provided him
MASTERY
TODAY, WHEN HIS SCHEDULE ALLOWS, MARC HAYEK LIKES TO BE IN THE
KITCHEN OF HIS HOUSE IN THE LAVAUX VINEYARDS, SWITZERLAND’S PRIME
WINE-PRODUCING AREA.
with some thrilling escapades. His career within the Swatch Group seemed pre-destined and
many predicted his rise up the corporate ladder. But this was not what Marc Hayek had in
mind. He wanted to breathe a different atmosphere and gain a measure of independence to
show what he was capable of unaided. This need to prove himself by undertaking a successful project was without doubt an essential stage in Marc Hayek’s career. He acted immediately
on the idea and the budding entrepreneur left the Swatch Group to plunge into another field
that demanded his skill and fervour.
“Colors” was the name under which Marc Hayek, then aged 26, and two friends started his
new business. He opened a restaurant in downtown Zurich where he could work while indulging a number of obsessions including wine, cuisine and cigars, for even then Marc Hayek
was a true epicure.
In the matter of wine he enjoyed working the vineyards, appreciating the importance of the
terroir, the product’s deep cultural roots, the cellarmaster’s skills, the intricacies of vinification
with its multitudes of parameters that through the genius of a few individuals transform the
22 | 23
juice of the grape into a delicate ambrosia. This secret alchemy and its human input reminded
him of another field to which his family devoted all its energy — the mastery of watchmaking.
How similar these two worlds were, with their cultivated devotions and their shared pleasures.
Although he decided to go into the restaurant business, Marc Hayek had a long-held fascination for watches, and it was soon to catch up with him.
Initially, “Colors” would give the young Hayek the opportunity to complete his knowledge of
wine, and it was thus with a newly bottled diploma in oenology that he opened his restaurant.
Success was not long in coming, and Marc Hayek was everywhere, except chained to the
stove. Although he adores cooking up little dishes for his friends, he left that task to others
at “Colors”. According to the gastronomic expert that he had become, cookery is all about
pleasure and sharing. In his view it’s a fundamental aspect: a dish, whether great or small, has
a special flavour when it is prepared for friends. Today, when his schedule allows, Marc Hayek
likes to be in the kitchen of his house in the Lavaux vineyards, Switzerland’s prime wine-producing area. This haven of peace with a view down over the calm waters of Lake Geneva is
about to become a gastronomic mecca. Friends of the Hayeks fortunate enough one day to
savour their cooking will no doubt spread the word that here one eats very well indeed!
Once again one of Marc Hayek’s favourite pastimes has a connexion with watchmaking. It’s
hardly surprising; the quality of the raw material, experience, skill, dexterity, precision, innovation and a sense of style are among the shared attributes of the gastronomic and the watchmaking arts. The parallels are indeed so obvious that Blancpain featured them in a promotional
clip a few years ago.
In the School of Epicurus, another family trait, the cigar, holds a high place among Marc
Hayek’s enjoyments. It’s a pleasure entwined with the timeless charms and delights of Cuba.
Marc Hayek loves being in the country of the cigar so he can indulge in two activities that
excite him the most — diving and the art of the cigar. Can there be anything more splendid
than seeing cigars actually being made, experiencing the aromas and tasting the pleasure? As
for diving, it too plays an important part in Marc Hayek’s life, whether in Cuba or elsewhere.
He’s had the opportunity of diving in some of the world’s prime sites and of discovering an
associated enthusiasm for photography. Starting underwater, his hobby gradually extended to
dry land. This compulsive photographer is already planning his next underwater album — an
out-of-cage encounter with the Big Blue. Not for the fainthearted.
As an enthusiastic connoisseur of the finer things in life, Marc Hayek managed to get the most
out of his “Colors” venture by “enjoying myself by making my clients happy.” After four years
of success and just when the formula was ready to spread to other European centres, Marc
Hayek got an offer from Jean-Claude Biver, another wine-lover, to be Blancpain’s head of
marketing. He took up the challenge, and in 2002 took over as the company manager, aged
31. Marc Hayek didn’t see his return to the family fold as an obligatory sacrifice but rather
as the natural return to a world that excites him. Furthermore he has a huge respect for his
family. It’s worth finding out why.
CLOS E U P
24 | 25
The Hayeks are more of a clan than a family, with the strong links that weld together such a
group. Nevertheless, the clan’s internal force of gravity and its common defence reflexes in no
way prevent any member from spreading their wings to take advantage of their freedom. As
we have seen, Marc Hayek is a man intent on making his own way. That means he prefers to
make his own name, with all the difficulties that involves, rather than to mould himself comfortably into a name that opens every door. Of course it is much easier to make a name,
especially in watchmaking, if you’re called Hayek than if you’re an ordinary person. But Marc
deliberately chose to prove himself elsewhere — in the restaurant business — before returning
to his first love of watchmaking. One can see from his track record that his determination to
be his own man enabled him to build up essential experience before donning the watchmaking hat of a Hayek.
Hayek isn’t the name he was initially destined for. He is the son of Nayla, daughter of Nicolas
G. Hayek, and a Swiss industrialist named Roland Weber, whose name Marc took before he
adopted the Hayek surname. Marc has on occasion given his reasons: “My parents divorced
when I was barely three years old. I grew up among my mother’s family, whom I adore. She’s
also my best friend. From then on my grandparents brought me up. My uncle Nick is more like
a big brother or a best friend while my grandfather is almost my second father. This is why
when I was eleven, I told my father I wanted to be called Hayek. He understood perfectly and
accepted.”
In Switzerland, even more than elsewhere, being introduced as a Hayek does not leave
people in stony indifference. When he mentions the issue, Marc Hayek freely admits that there
are as many advantages as drawbacks in having such an illustrious name. “People’s attitudes
AS SOON AS HE JOINED BLANCPAIN, MARC HAYEK DEMONSTRATED HIS FOCUS ON THE PRODUCT. HE LOVES WATCHMAKING AND LIKES EVEN MORE SAYING HOW HE WAS PASSIONATE
FASCINATION
ABOUT WATCHES EVEN BEFORE HIS GRANDFATHER AND LONG BEFORE HIS UNCLE.
CLOS E U P
change immediately when they hear that name. Positively or negatively, it all depends. The
extra attention and the privileged benefits that some people give one when one’s name is
announced irritate me as much as the difficulties that it can cause. One of the problems of
being called Hayek is gauging the sincerity of the people you deal with.”
If there is one gene that Marc has inherited from the Hayeks, it is surely the clan’s entrepreneurial spirit. It’s a spirit that drives you to calculate and take risks, to go ever onwards, to be
inherently motivated by any new hurdle. Marc Hayek is of that pedigree — willing, perseverant
and enthused by the contest. “I enjoy the entrepreneurship that drives my family,” he emphasizes. “It’s a permanent challenge; it’s part of my character to be an entrepreneur.”
As a visionary entrepreneur, Marc Hayek favours participatory management: the exchange of
ideas, the need to listen to others — and their opinions — before deciding and bearing the
responsibility, alone. In any case, this is what he has put into practice since he took over the
helm of Blancpain, eight years ago. “I don’t want my staff to be yes-men who think they’ll
make me happy by agreeing with everything I say. It’s not the role I expect them to play. If that
were the case I would need no support at all! The exchange of conflicting ideas is essential.
You can’t move forward without these discussions, re-evaluations and checks. Like everyone
else, I often make mistakes and I need to be able to question my vision. There are also other
RISKS
“I ENJOY THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP THAT DRIVES MY FAMILY, IT’S A PERMANENT
CHALLENGE; IT’S PART OF MY CHARACTER TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.”
A true speed freak, Marc A. Hayek the
driver regularly distinguishes himself in
Lamborghini Blanpcain Super Trofeo races.
And the diver-CEO even willingly took the
plunge – alongside freediving champion
Gianluca Genoni – for the launch of the
new Blancpain Fifty Fathoms.
26 | 27
CLOS E U P
“I DON’T WANT MY STAFF TO BE YES-MEN WHO THINK THEY’LL MAKE ME
HAPPY BY AGREEING WITH EVERYTHING I SAY. IT’S NOT THE ROLE I EXPECT
THEM TO PLAY. IF THAT WERE THE CASE I WOULD NEED NO SUPPORT AT
ALL! THE EXCHANGE OF CONFLICTING IDEAS IS ESSENTIAL. YOU CAN’T
MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT THESE DISCUSSIONS, RE-EVALUATIONS AND
CHECKS. LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES AND I NEED TO BE
ABLE TO QUESTION MY VISION. THERE ARE ALSO OTHER ASPECTS TO MY
IDEA OF EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT: TRUST AND KNOWING THE PEOPLE
EXCHANGES
WHO SUPPORT YOU.”
28 | 29
aspects to my idea of efficient management: trust, and knowing the people who support you.
That means that my closest collaborators at Blancpain are the most loyal. We’ve known each
other a long time and they understand perfectly what I expect of them. All we need to do is
to make regular fine adjustments. It’s a powerful advantage.” Even though the atmosphere
might appear conducive to an exchange of opinions, Marc Hayek never forgets that he’s the
boss. “Since I have been managing people, I’ve of course had disappointments. I’ve also
learned a lot. So, with time I’ve become more assertive because I realised that this is what
some employees expect. In hindsight I’ve also understood that delegating power gives just
another responsibility to bear, and for some the burden is too great. It’s something I have to
take into account.”
Beyond his professional sphere, Marc Hayek also admits that age and experience have made
him more uncompromising in his dealings with others. His tone of voice makes him abundantly clear, and everyone quickly understands when he is annoyed or dissatisfied. “Experience has
taught me that it’s better to talk straight so as to leave no room for doubt. But straight talking
doesn’t mean being rude or raising your voice. There are many other ways of making oneself
perfectly understood.”
In a society that worships the powerful, material wealth could have gone to Marc Hayek’s
head and made him lose track. But that’s not the style of his family. Rooted in solid bourgeois
values and miles away from the behaviour of the former watchmaking barons who flashed
their money about, the Hayeks are somewhat more discreet and a lot more careful. This
attitude is palpable in the management of the group that they control. “When business is
booming, the Swatch Group is criticised because it doesn’t pay the top salaries,” Marc Hayek
admits. “But when times are hard and the others are looking at the short term and lose no
time in shedding jobs, we do all we can to maintain employment. A firm can’t only be a cash
cow, it must also play a social role. This vision, which is incidentally my grandfather’s, is shared
by all of us. This is doubtless what distinguishes the Swatch Group from its competitors.”
However, to follow this policy the firm has to make a profit. Which is why Marc Hayek deplores
the current attitude “that making a profit should be considered shameful.”
Marc Hayek has also inherited his family’s competitive spirit. In his view competitiveness starts
with surpassing yourself and finding your limits before measuring yourself against others.
From his earliest youth, Marc played to win. Before getting astride powerful bikes and getting
the adrenalin flowing in the roar of the engine and smell of oil, Marc Hayek was a BMX rider
as a teenager. He competed for all he was worth, gaining two Swiss championship titles and
mixing with the world elite. Getting the best performance is part of his day-to-day life. He
amply demonstrated this by taking part in the maiden Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo
race last year frequented by talented and experienced drivers. Partnered with Peter Knox, Marc
Hayek took up the challenge. After a few warm-up laps, he got into his stride, unforgiving
both of his slightest mistakes and of those who overtook him. Fortunately that didn’t happen
too often, for at the end of his first season’s 18 races Marc Hayek emerged second in the
Pro-Am rankings, ahead of far more experienced drivers.
CLOS E U P
With the Hayeks, the competitive and entrepreneurial spirits are not far apart. It is by pursuing
both that careers are forged. “Competition is in the family genes,” Marc Hayek explains. “But
the most extreme are ‘senior‘ and my mother. Nick and my grandmother are slightly more
level-headed.”
As soon as he joined Blancpain, Marc Hayek demonstrated his focus on the product. He loves
watchmaking and likes even more saying how he was passionate about watches even before
his grandfather and long before his uncle. In fact watches were his childhood fascination, a
source of spontaneous, unfeigned and innocent wonder that stirs the emotions. But the first
watches that enthralled Marc Hayek were neither Blancpains, Breguets nor Swatches — they
had yet to rise to prominence. They were the watches of unknown brands that could be
found in the antique shops that Marc enjoyed visiting from his earliest youth. They could be
quartz or mechanical — it didn’t matter. Their inherent quality lay elsewhere, in their ability to
conjure dreams. That came from their most invaluable attribute: the ability to keep time, to
guard it safely and to show it at any moment. The magic of these objects, all their attraction,
was just that: the power to imprison time in a few cubic millimetres, to imprison it without
constraint, yet leaving it free to escape and be seen by the wearer. Without his being aware
of it, Marc Hayek’s fascination with watches arose from seeing them in a different light — as
timekeepers.
For those who’ve had the opportunity of being with him during his daily activities at Blancpain,
Marc Hayek is not only interested in the superficial aspects of a watch — its technical and design features. He is above all fascinated by what a watch expresses, by what it implies and by
the emotions it arouses. Those who have heard him marvel over a perpetual calendar or an
equation of time will not contradict us. Replicating the celestial ballet, the seasonal cycles or
the quirks of the Gregorian calendar in a machinery of tiny complexity is a continuing and
magical source of wonder for Marc Hayek, as it is for all lovers of fine watchmaking. This is the
brilliance that he intends to put on stage at Blancpain — the ability to innovate with due
respect for the work of past generations.
30 | 31
Of all the principles that are significant for Marc Hayek, respect is undoubtedly the supreme
value. Respect for tradition, respect for others, respect for the customer — these are the words
that become daily reality with the boss of Blancpain. His vision for the brand is based on the
respect he has for those who made its history since 1735. His respect for the client takes
different directions but takes shape all the way up to after-sales service “so that the dream
we brought doesn’t turn into a nightmare.” Never cheat, is the abiding principle Marc Hayek
has adopted as a fine poker-player. “In life as in cards you don’t cheat,” he likes to say. “You
respect, you advance, you can bluff sometimes — to take people by surprise — but you must
never cheat.”
Seasoned business leader, devoted young father, Marc Hayek is brimful of projects. At 39
years old, he knows that the future belongs to him, but he sees himself as more of a rebel.
Like his uncle he could wave a pirate’s flag out of the window. “Too much consensus bores
me,” he exclaims as a provisional conclusion. Then he adds: “But today you have to be in the
mould, and that’s so boring.”
“IN LIFE AS IN CARDS YOU DON’T CHEAT. YOU RESPECT, YOU ADVANCE,
R
P
T
YOU CAN BLUFF SOMETIMES — TO TAKE PEOPLE BY SURPRISE — BUT YOU
MUST NEVER CHEAT.”
ART DE VIVRE
32 | 33
THE QUEST FOR DUCK
ARRIVES IN AMERICA
HOW MANY FOODS ARE THERE THAT ARE LEGITIMATE CANDIDATES FOR A QUEST? KEEP IN
MIND THAT A “QUEST” IS VASTLY MORE POINTED, MORE FOCUSED, MORE DEVOTED, MORE
OBSESSIVE, INDEED EVEN REACHING THE HEIGHTS OF BEING MANIACAL, THAN A MERE
SEARCH. IT IS THE REASON FOR AN ENTIRE JOURNEY. IT MONOPOLIZES THE THOUGHTS OF
WHOEVER IS ON THE QUEST. FEW FOODS, NO MATTER HOW DELICIOUS AND HOW MUCH
PLEASURE THEY CONFER ARE CAPABLE OF ELEVATING THEMSELVES GENUINELY TO BECOME
THE OBJECT OF A QUEST.
BY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON
ART DE VIVRE
Chef Daniel Humm
34 | 35
To be true, one man’s quest risks being another’s yawner. You
travelled all that way for that? No questor worthy of the description is ever deterred by the
prospect of such belittlement. Just keep thrusting forward.
So, of course steeled against even withering forms of derision
from those quarters not sharing my tastes, I am prepared to take a very public stand, in print
no less so there will be no denials that can possibly follow, that whole roasted duck, cooked
beautifully pink, is frequently an object of my personal quests. Indeed, several years ago
I wrote an article entitled “The Quest For The Duck” which described a pilgrimage to
Switzerland’s magnificent Michelin three star restaurant Le Pont de Brent (see Lettres du
Brassus Issue 3) for the sole purpose of devouring one of their legendary roast ducks.
Beyond its inherent goodness, succulence, and depth of flavour,
what catapults perfect roast duck to its place solidly as an object of what incontestably is a
quest, is the near impossibility of finding it. This is not to say that duck preparations are
themselves absent from menus. To the contrary, some form of seared duck breast or leg
confit has become a ubiquitous staple alongside seared ahi, rack of lamb, and steak/frites at
every wannabe trendy hot spot. But whole roast duck is of an entirely different character.
There is no more connection between a pan seared duck breast and whole roast duck than
there is between joining your fellow cattle on Ryanair and flying on your own private jet.
It can be said with some confidence that there are only a handful
of restaurants in the world that have mastered and offer whole roasted duck cooked rare.
Until recently I could attest to but six (two in Switzerland, two in Belgium and two in France).
Restaurateurs, as the economists among us might put it, have exited the market. Too hard to
find truly suitable duck. Too hard to deal with the fat. Almost impossible to both crackle the
skin and at the same time leave the meat rare. Only serves two. Needs constant attention
during roasting. When the breast is cooked perfectly, the legs and thighs aren’t yet done.
Requires tableside carving. If you are given to finding reasons not to do something, whole
duck roasted rare is a recipe that abounds with them.
So imagine my surprise to find an outpost, an oasis of sorts, in
America. A restaurant that not only offers whole roast duck cooked rare, but has mastered it.
Specializes in it. Has single-mindedly pursued it to the degree that it has uniquely crafted the
design of its kitchen to produce it. The place, Eleven Madison Park in New York.
The driving force for Eleven Madison is chef Daniel Humm. It
would be misleading simply to append his age, but 32 years, to his introduction. Reading this,
many would jump in with the label “young chef” and some of the negative connotations that
usually flow from that tag. Yes, Chef Humm is but 32 years old, but he has been working as
ART DE VIVRE
a full time chef since the age of 13! Nineteen years of experience, most of it in the finest
kitchens in Europe carries with it an entirely different spin than his age without further explanation.
Born in Zurich, most of Daniel’s training came in the finest restaurants in Switzerland, starting at no less than the famous Baur au Lac hotel, perched on the
shores of the Zurich See. Like all great chefs, Daniel was able to add dimensions to his talent
at every successive stage of his training. The stops of his career ticked off: grand hotels in
Ascona, Lucern, two years at a two star restaurant whose chef improvised new dishes every
day according to the market, Le Pont de Brent. Pont de Brent!
The connection to duck immediately clicked into place. Gerard
Rabaey of Pont de Brent is the grand master of duck. His restaurant a personal destination on
a full throttle quest for duck. For his part, Daniel gushes with praise of Rabaey’s talent and
readily identifies him as having had the greatest influence on his development.
However many hundreds of ducks Daniel may have tended in
Pont de Brent’s kitchen, at Eleven Madison, Daniel has made the formula his own. As with any
great recipe, it all starts with superlative ingredients. Learning of them during his stint at the
helm of Campton Place in San Francisco, Daniel sources his ducks from Grimaud Farms, a
boutique producer in Sonoma. If you are a restaurant chef looking for an excuse not to follow
Eleven Madison down this path, the next step in his preparation will supply all the reasons you
need to concentrate your efforts on seared ahi instead. Daniel hangs his ducks for two full
weeks in a special refrigerator built solely for that purpose. This is a core element of his
36 | 37
preparation. Hanging the duck endows the meat with an incomparable delicate texture and
depth of flavour.
Time spent in Provence guided Daniel to the next twist in his
preparation. The skin is bathed in honey, lavender, coriander and cumin. And to bring a little
heat, a touch of Szechuan pepper. What emerges from the ferociously hot roasting oven, is
magnificent. Mahogany brown and almost luminescent, emanating the smells of Provence. In
European tradition the duck is presented whole to the diner and carved tableside.
Showing the depth of this search for perfection, Eleven Madison
departs in one significant way from the European “duck bible ”. For that handful of restaurants
that still cling to the art, it is uniformly the case that the duck is divided into two services—the
first of the rare breast meat, followed by a second service of the leg and thigh, which generally
require additional cooking. However logical this practice, it is not without its shortcomings.
First the meal is prolonged as an extra course is added with the second duck service. Second,
no matter how clever the chef, the service of the leg and thigh always is somewhat of an
anti-climax following that of the more tender and succulent breast.
Dispensing with the second service, but still guaranteeing that an
order of a whole roast duck will indeed feature service of a full beast, Eleven Madison serves,
instead, a leg and thigh confit alongside the breast on one plate. Brilliant. In a single service
there is a perfect contrast between the pink, ethereally tender breast meat accented with its
Provencal spices and pepper and the savory confit topped with crackling skin and a fruit
according to the season. On one occasion, shaved persimmon and fennel; on another visit,
Above, in all its glory, the whole
roasted duck as it is presented before
carving tableside.
ART DE VIVRE
IT CAN BE SAID WITH SOME CONFIDENCE THAT THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF
RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD THAT HAVE MASTERED AND OFFER WHOLE
ROASTED DUCK COOKED RARE.
38 | 39
figs (accented with Earl Grey tea). Daniel Humm has not only elevated himself to a level alongside his mentor Gerard Rabaey but eclipsed every other restaurant America in this preparation.
Worthy of a quest? In a heartbeat.
Although the duck is a towering achievement, by no means should
Eleven Madison be considered uni-dimensional. Humm’s Swiss training shines through across
the full spectrum of the menu. Readers of our Lettres du Brassus series on the Swiss giants
— Rochat (Issue 1), Pont de Brent (Issue 3), Chevrier (Issue 5) — know that there is a core
unifying principle in modern Swiss cooking: millimetric precision in the conception and execution of the dishes. Whether it is the result of his training in great Swiss kitchens or whether it
is somehow sewn into Swiss DNA is a matter for behaviorists and geneticists to debate, but
without doubt Humm’s Eleven Madison preparations fully exhibit this Swiss precision and
devotion to the finest details.
Of course the selection of meat main courses is not monolithic;
duck may have monopolized the limelight, but others vie for attention. A good example is
whole roast chicken. Elevating this preparation above the common bistro variety is Humm’s
selection of what in America is called “blue foot” chicken, but in the rest of the world is known
as “Poulet de Bresse ”. Banish all thoughts of industrialized production fowl. In common with
the French Bresse chickens, the blue foot variety elevates both texture and taste to a plateau
distinct and apart even from those “free range” chickens that foodies otherwise seek out.
Further punctuating the statement that this is no ordinary restaurant roast chicken is the liberal
use of truffles. Beyond poultry, Humm regularly proposes excellent lamb and veal mains which
vary in their accompaniments according to the season.
ART DE VIVRE
40 | 41
HUMM’S TECHNIQUES WITH FISH REFLECT SWISS
PRECISION AND OBSESSION WITH DETAIL.
Humm’s techniques with fish likewise reflect Swiss precision and
obsession with detail. Whereas the vast percentage of restaurants butcher the daily fish
arrivals on open counters, Humm insists on conducting the cutting and carving within the
confines of the fish refrigerator. Again with a nod to his mentor Rabaey, he favors low heat
slow cooking methods and a precise search for what he calls the perfect moment when the
fish opens up. Not a second less cooking. Not a second more. Eleven Madison’s loup de mer
illustrates wonderfully the delicacy achieved with the low heat methods that Humm prefers.
With no grilling or searing flavors inserting themselves into the equation, the natural sweet,
pure essence of the loup shines through. But to bring some added interest and complexity to
the dish, it is constructed, or better said deconstructed as a bouillabaisse. Presented with the
fish are slow cooked fenel, and a cup of intense crayfish broth covering a disk of crayfish
gelee. Every single note of a bouillabaisse is sounded, but each is left free to express its own
voice.
Two shellfish preparations are similarly outstanding, one cold, the
other warm. A cold starter is Humm’s Hawaiian prawn roulade. This roulade breaks new
ground for the genre. The casing for the tube (and the tube form is the reason for the “roulade”
label) are thin strips of avocado. The interior consists of the sweet prawn meat lightly accented
by tarragon. The result is an ethereal sweet prawn and avocado “pillow” with an extraordinary
lightness and delicacy. A standout warm shellfish preparation is Humm’s preparation of Nova
Scotia lobster. Displaying his Swiss cooking precision, the lobster is poached just to the point
of first translucence, and not a second more. This is the instant where sweetness peaks. It
is served with a lobster stock accented by lobster oil and a deconstructed ratatouille (spoonfuls of tomato, eggplant and zucchini). The ratatouille components were slightly spicy and
supplied a magnificent counterpoint to the sweetness of the lobster.
A meal at Eleven Madison is filled with an abundance of rewarding
graces. Each meal begins with an armada of amuse bouches: warm gougeres to accompany
champagne, foie gras with red currant jelly, cucumber with smoked salmon, manila clam
tartelette, radish with farm butter and a warm cornet of sweetbread. Every one displaying
ART DE VIVRE
Few wine bars in the world equal Eleven Madison‘s wine by
the glass list, displayed on this wood board.
42 | 43
great attention to detail, but of all things it was the bread and butter that made the most
lasting statement of how thoroughly Chef Humm has thought through the full restaurant
experience. I am relatively safe in asserting that bread and butter seldom linger in one’s memory of a great meal unless something went wrong. Almost never do they rise to become
noteworthy in a positive sense. Eleven Madison shatters this “truism ”. Not content with merely
top quality cow’s milk butter, a goat’s milk butter is offered alongside Vermont cows butter to
be paired with a warm kalamata olive and rosemary ficelle. Goat butter should be a staple
everywhere as it has a freshness, and sweet tart balance that makes it far more interesting
than ubiquitous cow butter.
The wine list is under the stewardship of young sommelier John
Ragan, who followed Humm from California. Here too, Eleven Madison breaks from the
ordinary. The list is prodigious. A tome. But others both in New York and across the country
offer extensive lists. What stands this one apart is its richness in Burgundy and Rhone selections, completely dwarfing the rather usual (and perfectly adequate) range of chardonnays,
cabernets and Bordeaux. Page after page of top producers in great vintages and across all the
important appellations are on offer. It would be hard to find a selection of Burgundies and
Rhones this extensive in France. When asked about his thinking behind this extraordinary
orientation in the list, John replied that it best fits the food as indeed it does.
Both originality and classicism are woven into Eleven Madison’s
desserts. A delight is the chocolate caramel tart. Marrying chocolate and caramel is completely traditional and fits perfectly cravings of chocoholics. Eleven Madisons, however, punctuates
the combo with fleur de sel. The salty notes take this dessert into the sophisticated realm of
those perfect Breton fleur de sel caramels. Another exploration of savory/sweet was exhibited in a completely unexpected way with Humm’s peanut butter and jelly. But before concluding that this is a nostalgic adventure back to American school lunch boxes from the 50s,
consider the secret ingredient withheld from the description—truffle! No riff on tradition
here. This is an eye popping new invention that takes savory/sweet to completely new territory.
Eleven Madison is a relatively new entrant on the New York restaurant scene. But even at this early stage it is plain that they have achieved rarely seen levels
of quality and perfection. After this article was written (but before it was published), the New
York Times awarded Eleven Madison its top ranking of four stars. Recognition and reward in
the other guidebooks cannot be long in coming.
Sommelier John Ragan.
ART DE VIVRE
SO WHO IS
GOLIATH
ANYWAY?
WHEN HERB LAMB WALKS THE ROWS OF HIS MOUNTAINTOP SITE OR STANLEY CHENG SURVEYS
THE UNDULATIONS OF HIS VINEYARDS ENCIRCLING A SMALL LAKE AT THE EASTERN BORDER
OF THE NAPA VALLEY APPELLATION, IT IS CERTAIN THAT NEITHER THINKS OF HIMSELF AS A
GUERILLA FOOT SOLDIER MUCH LESS A REVOLUTIONARY. RISK TAKERS, YES. ENTREPRENEURS,
YES. MAYBE EVEN PIONEERS. BUT ACTUALLY IF THEY INDULGED IN A LITTLE INTROSPECTION
THEY COULD COME TO SEE THEMSELVES AT LEAST AS FOOT SOLDIERS IN A REVOLUTION AND
LIKELY AS OFFICERS IN THE CAMPAIGN. THE REASON? THEY ARE BOTH NOT ONLY IN THE THICK
OF A REVOLUTION IN THE WORLD OF CALIFORNIA WINE BUT HAVE ACQUIRED HEADLINES FOR
THEIR ROLES.
BY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON
44 | 45
ART DE VIVRE
F
or those with an acute sense of history, the
and Stanley Cheng and his wife Helen, ably guided by
word “revolution” when applied to California
inspirational wine makers, who one by one decided to
wine may have lost a bit of its edge from over-
find a plot and make wine to please themselves. If you
use. Why? Because by any normal count, there have been
were surveying the Napa scene over these past 10 years,
at least four of them: the initial revolution which transfor-
it would be easy to miss what was happening. With wine-
med the Napa Valley from fruit orchards to vineyards; the
ries like Mondavi and Beaulieu flooding the market with
second following Prohibition where few endeavored to
oceans of wine, hundreds of thousands of cases a wine a
make great wine, instead opting for cheap commercial
year each, how could you even perceive or detect Herb
high volume wines which could be hawked to then not
Lamb with his yearly output of 250 cases? Some may
very sophisticated American palates; the third coming in
wish to call it a form of guerilla warfare. Without anyone
the 70’s, marked most pointedly when two California
being able to mark the day when the transformation took
wines, a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay (made by a Yu-
place, or said another way, when the coup d’etat surged
goslav immigrant, Mike Grgich) and a Stags Leap Caber-
to victory, the big reputation, large production premium
net (made by a former college professor Warren Winiarski)
wineries, even those American/French joint ventures
upset a selection of France’s finest wines and won the
which were the subject of splashy publicity, have seemed
legendary 1976 Paris tasting, thereby proving that world
to vanish from serious wine discussions in California. They
class wine could be made in California and launching a
have been overwhelmed and supplanted by the micro-
movement to more broadly replicate that success throug-
producers. To be in the know, to be a true California wine
hout the Napa Valley; and now a fourth, as waves of mi-
connoisseur now requires not simply knowledge of the
cro-wineries have surged to the fore upending and over-
identities of these wineries, but mastery of the tricks to
whelming the giant houses who previously dominated
obtain a precious bottle or two of these ruthlessly alloca-
the market for top end Napa Valley wines. In many ways
ted wines.
this fourth revolution is the most profound because it has
happened by stealth. No master organization. No grand
How is it possible for these microscopically sized wineries
plan. Just dozens and dozens of completely obsessive
to have seized the collective consciousness of Napa wine
vineyard owners, like Herb Lamb and his wife Jennifer
aficionados? With quantities in the range of 250 cases for
46 | 47
ART DE VIVRE
At center, a wine shop in the heart of the Napa Valley. Every
bottle on offer is a cult wine. Large wineries need not apply.
the Lamb’s HL Cabernet and 400 cases for the Chengs’
Hestan Cabernet the challenge would seem to be achieving any kind of visibility. Being noticed at all. I mused
about this apparent paradox as I strolled through the
Hestan vineyards with Stanley Cheng and one of his wine
makers, Jeff Gaffner, who crafts the Chengs’ range of
Stephanie wines (which include a sumptuous Bordeaux
blend, labeled with notable understatement “Red Wine”).
Jeff had the answer and as he spoke it set off fireworks
with its dazzling simplicity and truth. “The Internet”.
Before the ubiquity of the internet, successful micro
production simply would not have been possible. How
could such a producer induce large chains of wine shops
to stock wines available in trickle quantities? How would
wine critics even know that they existed? In the preinternet eras this would have been folly. But now where
word of mouth is propagated worldwide, where even
casual musings are captured by Google’s web crawlers
for everyone to see, where tweets spread virally, it
becomes possible. And if you are good, this freebie
publicity quickly overwhelms the ability to supply.
What is also striking about this success of the Lilliputians,
true of both the Lambs and the Chengs, is that financial
reward is most often not the motivator. Large com -mercial wineries have to be successful. With large land
48 | 49
Herb Lamb and his wife Jennifer.
holdings worth princely sums, sprawling facilities and at
concept, if you will, they could not know whether
least a brigade to attend the wines, anything less risks
the effort would succeed. But they made a few brilliant
hemorrhaging money. For these large scale operations,
decisions. They hired inspired wine makers. Initially,
conservatism is the order of the day. A philosophy of
these were Jeff Gaffner, who now is celebrating his
“just don’t screw up”. Do the chemical analysis, measure
26th vintage of wine making in Napa and renowned
the brix, get the lab results back from the consulting
Mark Herold. Today Gaffner continues with the Stephanie
oenologists and do what they say. That world view is
wines while Thomas Brown, who has garnered not just
turned topsy turvey in the case of the Lambs and Chengs.
one but two 100 point scores from wine critic Robert
For them, it was all about risk.
Parker (an even more difficult accolade than being awarded Michelin 3 star rankings for two restaurants, as 100
To begin with, neither even owned existing vineyard
point Parker scores are far more rarely doled out), takes
land. The Lamb parcel is located on what essentially is
over the Hestan production. Equally brilliantly, they
a mountain top, perched above the tony Meadowood
gave the winemakers free reign.
resort and famed Silverado Trail and in the foothills of
Howell Mountain. Not only was this heavily forested and
The Lambs seemingly backed into becoming vintners.
undeveloped, but, according to traditional wine making
Herb, a soil scientist, had an idea that his parcel could
orthodoxy, the slope faced precisely the wrong way,
produce excellent wine, specifically cabernet sauvignon.
north east in its exposure instead of south. When the
He was not troubled by the contrast between his high
Chengs bought their land it was a cow pasture, grazing
altitude backward facing slope and the famed vineyards
land. What attracted them was its seclusion, rolling hills
lying on the flat valley floor beneath him (the Rutherford
and a large lake. Nothing in the immediate environs even
dust and Oakville bench), exposed to full sun. Indeed
hinted wine making with a range of steep hills separating
in his mind, his parcel had all the advantages. Unlike
them from the main portion of the Napa Valley.
Burgundy and Bordeaux where achieving full ripeness is
the yearly challenge, Napa poses the opposite problem.
The Chengs planted their vines without great expecta-
There is too much sun, heat and dryness. For those
tion. With no one nearby to set an example, proof of
who don’t manage these elements well, cooked fruit
ART DE VIVRE
50 | 51
ART DE VIVRE
and excessively jammy wines are the result. Facing
these two wines acquired their reputation, the Lambs
the wrong way and capturing cooling breezes in the
began keeping some of their grape production for
afternoon protects his fruit and allows him to indulge
themselves, asking Mike Trujillo to bottle a few wines
in maximum “hang time” for the grapes. Hang time
made from grapes that were not being used for the Karl
means that the grapes can be left on the vine longer
Lawrence or Colgin wines. Far from being commercial,
allowing the grapes to reach maximum ripeness and
these were so-called “shiner” bottles, meaning bottles
balance. Without exposing the vineyard to excessive
without labels, and were destined only for family and
sun, this extra hang time allows subtle flavor and aromatic
friends.
elements in the grapes to reach an extraordinary degree of
maturity. The Chengs also boast a micro climate which
It did not take long for Herb and Jennifer to realize what
allows extended hang time. Two gaps in the hills sur-
they had and make, what with the benefit of time and
rounding their property suck in cooling breezes from the
hindsight, seems to be an obvious and easy decision.
San Francisco Bay, to protect the fruit. So in both cases,
Trujillo’s Karl Lawrence and Colgin’s Herb Lamb Vineyards
harvesting late has become part of the plan as the Lambs
Cabernet had proven that great wine could be made. So
and Chengs pick the grapes in mid October.
why not hire Trujillo, who knew the vineyard and knew,
more than anybody else, the secrets of succeeding
Like the Chengs, the Lambs early on hooked up with a
with it, to make wine for them. HL Vineyards Cabernet
brilliant wine maker, Mike Trujillo, whose wines they
Sauvignon was thus born. A mere four rows of vines,
admired. Ironically, the potential of what they had was
enough for but 50 cases was set aside for their own
not discovered first under their own label. Trujillo, thrilled
production, which debuted with the ‘97 vintage.
with the quality of the fruit, had chosen the cabernet
from the Lamb’s vineyard as one of the key components
Fifty cases, of course, is not micro-production. It is nano-
in the small production Karl Lawrence Cabernet which
production. That has now eased somewhat as the
debuted in 1991. The second wine to showcase the
Lambs have decided to keep all of their grapes for
quality of the Lamb vineyard was the Colgin Herb Lamb
themselves. The Colgin Herb Lamb Vineyard Cabernet is
Vineyard Cabernet made by wine maker Helen Turley. As
no more and the quantities of HL Vineyard Cabernet
52 | 53
DR. GEORGE DERBALIAN
Dr. George Derbalian is a Lettres du Brassus wine expert. Dr. Derbalian is
the founder of Atherton Wine Imports, located in northern California. Not
only has he become one of the United States’ premier importers of Åne
wines, but he has acquired a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading
and most respected wine connoisseurs and expert tasters in the world.
Each year, Dr. Derbalian travels the wine circuits of Europe and the United
States, meeting with wine producers, owners of the Ånest domains, chef de
chai, and other key Ågures in the world of wine. Throughout the course of
each year, he tastes literally many thousands of current production and
vintage wines. In this issue Dr. Derbalian shares with us his discovery of
the Napa Hestan and Stephanie wines from Stanley and Helen Cheng. In
addition we are grateful to Mr. Ed Schneider who introduced us to Herb
and Jennifer Lamb and their Herb Lamb Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
also featured in this Issue.
Sauvignon have soared to, tongue planted firmly in
him to make Hestan, trusting that what he had done for
cheek, lofty heights of 250 cases. To put that into
himself in his garage could be done with their grapes.
perspective, the entirety of the UK is able to obtain but
Their first wine, the 2002 Hestan Cabernet, released in
5 cases. Shrewd California wine fanatics who have
2004, debuted with a bang, Robert Parker bestowing a
mastered the techniques of gaining admission to the sales
score of 95 points. To put that into perspective, most of
list via the web site are allocated two bottles a year.
the elite Bordeaux chateaux only rarely earn those marks.
Hestan did it on its very first try.
The Chengs’ wines currently span a range beyond their
original flagship Hestan Cabernet, made from the begin-
Buoyed by the success of the Hestan, which continues to
ning by Mark Herold. Pure serendipity led them to
rack up mammoth scores from the critics, the Chengs
Herold. Dining at the famed French Laundry restaurant,
wanted to create a more supple softer wine than one
the only restaurant on the West Coast accorded three
fashioned out of essentially 100% Cabernet (Hestan does
stars by Michelin, the Chengs were steered by the
have a minor percentage of Petit Verdot). For that they
sommelier to a bottle of Merus Cabernet, completely
sought out Jeff Gaffner and the Stephanie wine was
unknown at the time. Their request of the sommelier,
created. Although there are now three different
“give us something that is rare and extraordinary”.
Stephanie wines, the flagship is the Bordeaux blend,
The sommelier’s reply “Here’s the best Cabernet I have ”.
for which Gaffner mixes the full range of red Bordeaux
The risk of following the sommelier’s advice was minor.
varietals, Cabernet, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot and
After all, if they didn’t like the wine they could always
Cabernet Franc. It too has cemented its cult status,
order a bottle of something else. There was no sending
garnering top scores.
this one back; they swooned. Following dinner they
tracked Herold down, who at the time was quite literally
As I spent time with the Lambs and Chengs, as much
making Merus in his garage. He was looking for clients
as they were similar in so many respects — small pro-
and the Chengs were looking for a winemaker. The
duction, new land opened up for the first time to vine -
second risk they took with Herold was a bit bigger than
yards, selection of brilliant wine makers, emphasis on
the selection of a bottle of wine for a meal, as they hired
long hang times for the fruit, lists of clients begging for
ART DE VIVRE
54 | 55
ART DE VIVRE
Stanley Cheng and his wife Helen.
allocations — there was one area that emerged in our
conversations where they parted company, that is
whether or not to submit wines to the critics, most
notably Robert Parker. The Chengs have given Parker
access to their wines; the Lambs have chosen the opposite. The Chengs decision to let Parker taste succeeded
brilliantly and the resulting Parker scores insure full sell
out of the wine. The Lambs see it differently. They
want to make their wine to please their tastes and that of
their winemaker, Mike Trujillo. They were never out to
please Robert Parker or any other wine critic. Of course
they were fortunate in being spared from having to
establish themselves with a Parker score that could
be virally propagated on the internet, as the Colgin wines
from their vineyard had already blazed the path and
built a reputation. Interestingly the Chengs, too, never
sought to please Parker and only smile sardonically when
told of wine analysis labs in the valley which claim to
have reverse engineered Robert Parker’s palate and will
happily test wine samples to see if they meet the profile for 100 points based upon chemical composition,
comparing the sample to wines that have won the
ultimate accolade. Fortunately for the Chengs, Parker
found their wines and liked them. Unlike the Lambs
HL, the Chengs’ Hestan and Stephanie continue to be
reviewed.
56 | 57
ART DE VIVRE
Whether or not you believe the critics have been a factor
in building these successes, cult wine has not only
firmly established itself in Napa, it is poised to move
well beyond its current Cabernet stronghold. At the intellectual core of the movement are inspired, risk taking
young winemakers. Not only do they feel liberated
from the bondage of old winemaking rules, they have
accumulated experience from not just the US and
France, but from all over the world. Their new frontier?
Experimenting with global varietals. Whether or not they
succeed? Well that is what risk is all about. One thing
is now all but certain, these emerging Napa winemakers
have captured mind share and have our full attention.
58 | 59
TASTING NOTES
HESTAN CABERNET 2002
MEYER CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2005
Hestan Cabernet 2002. A richly colored, muscular, concentrated
wine. Wonderfully complex, it offers up waves of intense fully ripe
black fruits, cherries, currents, blackberries. Powerful, yet focused on
the palate, with great precision and concentration of the fruit and
ripe tannins that are now fully resolved. Sweet cherry Ånish. A superbly complex example of Cabernet.
A forward, accessible, easy drinking Cabernet. The nose offers up
plentiful scents of currants, anise and spice. Wonderful focus in the
mouth with a sweet fruit Ånish. Tannins very round. (Meyer Cabernet
is a third series produced by the Chengs)
STEPHANIE BORDEAUX BLEND 2006
This wine has all of the breed and complexity of a First growth St.
Emillion. Marion berries and blackberries dominate the nose and
palate backed by spicy sweet vanilla oak. There is an exotic character
to the wine as the spice and fruit play off each other. Very round.
Each sip offers up new dimensions to this very complex wine.
HL HERB LAMB VINEYARDS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2000
Raspberries dominate the nose. The concentration is dazzling as is the
focus and precision of the Æavors. Not an ounce of Æab to be found.
Balance between fruit and oak is exceptional. Not a trace of dryness in
the fully ripe and round tannins. This is one of those wines that re-writes
the script on what great Napa cabernet can achieve.
EII CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007
Wonderful sweet chocolate plum nose. Rich, deep and ripe. Remarkably tight focused fruit on the palate. The precision of the Æavors is
stunning.
An extremely rich forward concentrated wine built for early drinking.
Sweet fruit is woven into all the elements. The nose offers up scents of
blackberries and black currants that follow into the palate there joined
by notes of chocolate and sweet vanilla oak. Round ripe tannins show
in the Ånish which brings along some spice.
STEPHANIE MERLOT 2006
LAMB VINEYARDS ALMOST HOWELL MOUNTAIN 2007
Black fruits and licorice in the nose. The roundness of the merlot is
expressed with an almost furry character in the mouth. Spice Ålls out
the Ånish. The wine is 85% merlot, 15% cabernet.
Bright fruit, well balanced by acid dominated by red currants. Layers
of spice alternating with hints of chocolate and vanilla. Already fully
accessible. (Note: not available commercially)
STEPHANIE CABERNET 2006
ART DE VIVRE
SINGLE COMBAT
DRIVERS
THERE IS A TEMPTATION WHICH INFECTS MODERN JOURNALISM. WE ARE SO BOMBARDED WITH INFORMATION AND, WITHOUT SO MUCH AS BUDGING FROM A CHAIR,
ARE SO EASILY AND DEFTLY ABLE TO EXHUME MOUNDS OF MATERIALS WITH
OUR FINGER TIPS, THAT IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO APPROACH A STORY WITHOUT PREJUDGMENT, OR AS BRITISH BARRISTERS WOULD EXPRESS IT, WITHOUT
BEING THOROUGHLY «GINGERED UP». IN PLACE THEN OF TRUE OBJECTIVE INVESTIGATION, THERE ARE INSTEAD ONLY QUICK LOOKS FOR CONFIRMATION OF WHAT THE
JOURNALIST WAS SATISFIED HE KNEW BEFOREHAND (THANK YOU GOOGLE) THEN
OFF TO THE WORD PROCESSOR. IN SHORT, JOURNALISM AS PRECONCEPTION WRIT
LARGE.
BY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON
60 | 61
ART DE VIVRE
S
o what if preconception fails? Experience and the internet
yielding such conflicting scenarios that good old fashioned
objective observation once again presses to the fore. It was, thus,
for the first race in the six race Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo
series.
Automotive competition has many flavors. At one extreme
are the gentlemen’s rallies. Spirited driving to be sure, but where
the most serious competitive element is the ability be a witty
raconteur at the evening cocktail. The California Mille Miglia is a
prime example (See Found in Translation, Lettres du Brassus Issue
4). Only a notch above are club races. Here winners are crowned,
but nothing is taken seriously except the avoidance of any manoeuvre that might risk denting or even scratching one’s beloved
BMW or Porsche (an amusing contrast, however, exists with the 24
Hours of Lemons, a club race where the maximum value of the car
is set at 500 dollars, so dent away). Indeed the average metropolitan evening commute is replete with more aggression than the
typical club race. At the opposite extreme from this is professional
factory team racing. Here rivalries run deep. No less than the reputation of the brand is at stake. The enterprise is resolutely serious,
marshalling squads of engineers, mechanics, and of course the
pilots. In every respect the competition resembles single warrior
combat. No matter the skill and diligence of those who have conceived the car, tuned it, furiously tended it during the race, it is the
pilot who is sent out onto the track alone to decide the fate of the
62 | 63
IT WAS THE EYES THAT FORETOLD BEST WHAT
WAS TO COME. THESE WERE NOT THE EYES OF
ORDINARY DRIVERS.
team and ultimately the factory. Vanquishing of rivals is firmly
motoring awaits. A more nuanced impression as the group
placed into his hands, when, solo, he takes his place on the starting
dispersed to their respective preparation areas. Each of the Super
grid.
Trofeos was ensconced in its own tent, attached to an enormous
tractor trailer, one for each team. Squads of mechanics busily
Armed with only the information laid out on the Super
tending to each car. Computers tethered to the vehicles extracting
Trofeo web page, I was dispatched to Adria, Italy in mid-May to
readouts. Last minute suspension calibrations being applied. Mons-
witness this first race of the series. Adria is a wonderful venue for
trous inventories of tires – both slick and rain, it having rained the
both the die hard and casual followers of motor sport. For one
two previous days. This was not the preparation for an ordinary
thing it is located but a stone’s throw from the holy grounds of
club race.
top end Italian automotive manufacturing with the headquarters of
both Lamborghini and Ferrari but 30 minutes away. For another it
is equally proximate to the tourist mecca of Venice.
But it was the eyes that foretold best what was to come.
These were not the eyes of ordinary drivers. As the cloth helmet
liners were donned, each driver’s countenance bore the distant stare
Although deadly serious racing was scheduled for the day,
of anticipation and concentration. The intensity of the single combat
with FIA events on the Adria card, it was not altogether out of the
warrior readying for battle. There was nothing casual betrayed
question that the Super Trofeo event would evolve as a light di-
in any of the eyes. There was to be no lighthearted barrel racing
version from the other races, in the same way that barrel racing
this day.
provides a respite from Brahma bull riding at a rodeo. In short, the
track venue principally offering assurance that neither pedestrians,
Not only was this evidently going to be a day of single
trucks, nor dogs would interfere with the pleasure of driving. Or
warrior combat, it would be one of extraordinary purity and re-
would this be a slightly detuned version of single warrior combat?
finement. There is no concept of equality of means in the single
warrior ethos. Quite simply it is the replacement of the battle of
Arrival at the track on the morning of the first race, gave
many to a proxied battle of a single person per side. Even in its
conflicting signals. Good humor, genial comradeship, hardy fellows
traditional form there is beauty in conflict where resolution of a batt-
well met, each sporting identical abundantly logoed uniforms
le of nations is not placed in the hands of the entire nation or even
marked the morning group photo of the drivers. Ah, pleasant
in an army of many, but rather the decision resting solely in the
ART DE VIVRE
64 | 65
.
THE SINGLE COMBAT DRIVERS WERE TO BE
EVENLY MATCHED IN THEIR EQUIPEMENT,
LEAVING THEIR FATES TO THEIR TRAINING,
SKILL, PLANNING, DARING AND STRATEGY
hands of a single representative for each partisan. In the simplest
form, that is all that is required, the nomination of the representative,
the identification of the single combat warrior. And if it turns out that
one of the warriors has a slingshot and the other a semi automatic
rifle, so be it.
But here 17 equal Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars were
to take the field, with only the most minor modifications allowed.
Simply put, the teams had the means to tune the suspensions,
stiffening here, softening there, to fit the preferences and driving
styles of the pilots, but little more. So the single combat drivers were
to be evenly matched in their equipment, leaving their fates to their
training, skill, planning, daring and strategy. In short, this was as close
as motorsport can come to matching drivers instead of machines.
The Adria track was to pose an unusual set of challenges.
Compared to the prototypical motor racing venue, it is not only
extraordinarily short, only 2.7 kilometers in length, but is festooned
with an abundance of tight hairpins. Hardly and instant passes without the driver being called upon either to accelerate like a mad man
or brake like a fiend. As experienced drivers know, races are won
and lost more with the brakes than with the engines, especially
on a track like Adria. The sprint/brake/sprint/brake pattern of
this track, with no significant intervening high speed stretches for
cooling, was to inflict murderous punishment on the disks and
rotors of the cars.
ART DE VIVRE
IN EACH TENT MECHANICS WERE CONTORTING OVER AND SLITHERING UNDER
THEIR PRECIOUS CHARGES TO TUNE THE
CARS FOR THE FOLLOWING RACES.
Three races were on the card for the day, each slated to
be either 26 laps or 32 minutes, whichever occurred first, with a
mandatory pit stop for driver change for each car. Without doubt
the adrenalin was flowing for all three. Not only were lap times
faster than any of the qualifying and practice laps, but the forecast approximate 30 minute duration turned out to be radically
overestimated. The 26 laps of the first race flashed by in but 19
minutes!
As the event unfolded, the split format of three separate
races produced radically different personalities for the three events.
Much as prize fighters feel each other out in the first round, even
with faster lap times than in the practices, conservatism overwhelmed the first race. Passing was rare and, with none of the cars
flirting with its limits, spins or excursions to the infield were absent.
For a good part of the race the field seemed largely content to
exploit insiders’ knowledge by following the local teams that
knew the track the best and the factory teams, that, of course,
knew the car the best. Although the factory car piloted by one of
Lamborghini’s professional drivers, Giorgio Sanna, assumed the
early lead, first place was soon taken by local team Petri Corse
and drivers Fabio Babini and Claudio Rossette, who cruised to a
comfortable victory.
The effect of this rather natural conservatism was punctuated all the more by many of the team’s strategies. In theory each
66 | 67
team paired a pro-driver and an amateur. A bit of fudging here as
some teams relied on a sole driver — natch, a professional — and on
some others, no names please — the amateur was that in name
only, for example a designated amateur, who was himself formerly
a professional. For the first race, it was nearly universally the case
that the pro/am teams sent the amateur, logically the slower of
their two pilots, out onto the grid first. Of course, that strategy
served to heighten the advantages and lead of the local and
factory teams. So follow the leader it was with local team Petri
Corse guiding the field around its home turf across the finish line.
And, it should be said, this was a comfortable and relaxing race to
watch for the spectators. As with all motor races where the stands
are placed adjacent to the starting grid, a lot of the action happens
out of sight when the field is negotiating remote areas of the track.
For the spectators perched on a bench, the field seemingly glided
by lap after lap with few changes in the placement of the teams.
Ah, the comforts of an ordering preserved.
If you beelined to the hospitality tent after the first race —
and who woudn’t be tempted by pata negra ham, gruyere caramel,
tomatoes and mozzarella, and abundant fine Italian wines — you
would have imagined the friendly gauze of the “follow the leader”
first race was primed to set the tone for the whole day. On the
other hand, if you left the food tables and ventured into teams’
tented garages, it was plain that the happy face was coming off. In
each tent mechanics were contorting over and slithering under
ART DE VIVRE
68 | 69
ART DE VIVRE
70 | 71
IF TRUE COMPETITIVE RACING MEANS THAT THE FIELD IS MORE OR
LESS EVENLY MATCHED AND THAT EVERY CAR AND DRIVER HAS
A CHANCE TO BEST THE OTHERS, THEN THIS IS WHAT THE SUPER
TROFEO WAS DEMONSTRATING.
their precious charges to tune the cars for the following races. As
who zealously guarded his position and sent team Blancpain to
the drivers pored over their computers tethered to internal data
the podium with a 3rd place finish.
recorders in the cars, their mechanics adjusted suspensions to
tweak more speed from the machines. Blancpain’s car number
The aggression of the second race was seemingly just
24 had been too twitchy in the turns, transitioning too readily
a tune-up for the third. If the first race exuded the polite grace
into oversteer. Based on the computer readouts the front shocks
of a ballroom dance and the second marked itself with the grit
were stiffened to balance the car. Brakes were an issue for every
and pluck of determined passing, the third unfolded with a yet a
team and without exception every car received full new out-
third personality — collisions. At the first turn, Marc Hayek found
fittings — rotors and disks — at all four corners. Pause to savor
himself boxed in a group of five cars. Surging from the rear, one of
that thought for a moment, over 2500 dollars of new brakes
the group rammed the Blancpain car, severing completely the
after one 30 minute race, or a brake expense of around 1200
rear view mirror and delivering a blow to the ribs of sufficient
dollars an hour excluding labor. The intensity of the teams, drivers
force to hobble driver Marc Hayek for days afterward. Of more
and mechanics alike, was now primed to be let loose.
immediate consequence, Blancpain dropped several places in the
field as a result of the collision. But not for long. Taking over the
Within seconds of the start of race number two, conser-
wheel, Peter Kox drove with a vengeance, devouring those in front
vatism, follow the leader, deference to the home town boys
of him and himself participating in a bit of body contact, knocking
was… gone. Vaporized. Gone faster than the jumbo shrimp
his counterpart out of the race. As well the third race witnessed
from a cocktail buffet. Gone within a millisecond of the start. The
several excursions off the track as drivers exceeded the limits of
drivers’ briefing that counseled against passing until crossing the
the cars and, amidst clouds of dust, discovered the wonders of the
start line, went out the window as teams now piloted by the pros
infield.
to start the race surged for positions before crossing the start
the line. No room for deference in that kind of driving. Turned loose,
The chaos of the third race turned the spectators’
now with a car better tuned for the track, Peter Kox, the profes-
world topsey turvey. Eschewing the relative comforts of the stands
sional driving half of the Blancpain team, piloted as a man
at the start line (and the relative lack of action at the end of a
possessed surging up five full places from eighth to third,
straight away), I sought a position at the far end of the track
before turning the wheel over to Blancpain CEO Marc A. Hayek
adjacent to a moderate chicane. From this worm’s eye vantage
ART DE VIVRE
point, the third race was utterly confounding. True, at every
appearance of the field, as the laps ticked off one by one, Babini
and Rosette flashed by at the head, but as for the rest, it was
as if there had been a massive shuffling of the deck at every
lap. Blancpain’s car started in third position, where was it? (Of
course I did not see and could not know of the collision) Every
lap produced a new ordering. What in the world were they doing
back there? If true competitive racing means that the field is
more or less evenly matched and that every car and driver has
a chance to best the others, then this is what the Super Trofeo
was demonstrating. This was a field with no weak sisters and given to turbulent but temporary minor victories in the middle grouping. But isn’t that what a single make series should offer? When
the cars are evenly matched the differences become razor thin
and changeable.
At the end of the day, the victory belonged to the
pilots with local ties, team Petri Corse with drivers Fabio Babini
and Claudio Rossette, both of whom had deep experience on
the track. Their triumph was complete and decisive as they swept
all three of the races. But as the teams unwound with glasses of
prosecco in the hospitality tents of the Super Trofeo Village, it was
clear that opening sweep, notwithstanding, no easy cruising
awaited for the upcoming five additional races.
•
72 | 73
IN TIME
74 | 75
EXTREME
DIVING
WANNA PICK A FIGHT? TRY ASSEMBLING A LIST FROM ONE TO TEN OF THE MOST
EXTREME SPORTS. BUNGEE JUMPING, TORNADO CHASING, WING SUIT FLYING,
DEMOLITION DERBY, SNOWBOARDING OFF CLIFFS ALL CAN JOSTLE FOR POSITION, URGED ON BY THEIR PARTISANS, WHO, CONSIDERING THE SETTING,
BRING A CERTAIN DEGREE OF BELLIGERENCE TO THE ARGUMENT THAT THEIR
SPORT TOPS THE LIST.
BY JEFFREY S. KINGSTON
IN TIME
The 500 FATHOMS automatic. The extraordinarily powerful glow of
its dial numerals is achieved by means of a plate of super luminova
placed under the surface of the rest of the dial.
76 | 77
O
ne thing we can all agree upon, however, is that the degree of
extremity even to have a fighting chance to make the top ten has
increased over time. What qualified in the 90s as extreme gets packed off with
shuffleboard by the Gen Yers who still have the limberness, knees, backs, and,
frankly, suppressed sense of danger (some would say lack of good sense) to throw
their bodies into the pursuit of thrills.
What was extreme in diving has changed too. At the time Blancpain
launched the original Fifty Fathoms in 1953, the depth of 50 fathoms (approximately 94 meters) was considered the maximum that a human could achieve
with scuba gear. Don’t push that proposition today in a group of experienced
divers. Extreme divers now think in terms of hundreds of meters — and even the
most ardent Gen Y bungee jumper or wing suit flyer would have to concede
IN TIME
The 500 Fathoms GMT.
78 | 79
that probing those depths is the very defi nition of extreme sport. It makes everyone’s list of top ten extreme sports.
Now there are two extreme watches to pair with this incontestable extreme
sport, the Blancpain 500 Fathoms automatic and the 500 Fathoms GMT, both
introduced at Basel 2009. Both carry pedigrees of extreme water resistance,
up to 100 bars of pressure. With a first for extreme diving watches, both the
500 Fathoms automatic and 500 Fathoms GMT offer clear case backs.
Although the styling of both 500 Fathoms models clearly springs from
the Sport Collection family tree and, particularly its patriarch the Fifty Fathoms,
these two new 500 Fathoms time pieces strongly proclaim their own distinct
identity. Fitting to their extreme sport milieu, both are housed in the largest
IN TIME
cases that Blancpain has ever produced, 48 mm, each fashioned out of brushed
titanium, a material new to the Sport Collection. Keen observers will no doubt
by now have spotted what appears to be an additional crown at the 10 o’clock
position on both models. In fact that is a helium relief or decompression valve,
which operates to help equalize pressure if the watches are taken to the enormous
depths of which they are capable.
The dials of both versions make bold new visual statements for the Sport
Collection. The dial of the 500 Fathoms automatic announces itself with exuberantly large super luminova indexes and is particularly clever in its construction,
breaking new ground in its conception. There is a purpose for an outsized index in
an extreme diving watch, and that is enhanced visibility in the darkness of deep
water. There is, however, a trick needed to produce such a large luminous index.
80 | 81
The 500 Fathoms automatic.
IN TIME
Underwater photos from Blancpain‘s Fifty Fathoms Edition 2009, available for purchase at
www.fifty-fathoms-edition.com
82 | 83
Generally the super luminova material is added to a dial at the last stage of production, being squirted in liquid form into a trough of the index which is meant to
glow. For smaller sizes that is an excellent method for applying the material. But when
the surface area grows large, liquid application no longer produces perfect results
because it becomes extremely difficult to achieve a completely even surface. The
answer which Blancpain developed was to produce an entire disk of super luminova
and place another dial surface, in this case black, with triangular cut outs, above it.
Not only does this allow for large and perfectly flat super luminova surfaces, but it
brings an element of visual depth to the dial. But there is another even more
“extreme” element to the dial of this extreme diving watch. The super luminova layer
is fashioned out of black super luminova upon which the top black disk is a placed.
During the day, the two disks blend their colors producing a sober all black ambiance,
with only subtle hints of the radiating indexes visible. Highlighted are the Arabic
IN TIME
numbers at 3, 6, 9, and 12 fashioned as applied numerals, bordered in silver and
filled with natural superluminova. At night a transformation takes place. The lower
super luminova disk glows and the top black layer, of course, reads as black; the
indexes now take on a prominence hidden during the day as their glow announces
their presence against a dark foreground. Thus, the dial offers two entirely different
visual personalities as the light changes.
The dial of the GMT version is more conventional in that it offers off-white
super luminova applied to areas of both the numerals and indexes. The surface areas
for both are particularly generous to enhance readability.
84 | 85
500 Fathoms Cannes 2009, limited edition.
The movements of both of the 500 Fathoms timepieces offer automatic
winding, a five day power reserve, three mainspring barrels, and a free sprung
balance with gold regulation screws. One element that sets them visually apart from
their Fifty Fathoms Sport Collection brethren, is a unique winding rotor fashioned
into the shape of a ships propeller.
Both of these extreme diving watches debut as limited editions, with
but 500 pieces of each offered for the entire world.
NEWS
BASEL 2010
A CELEBRATION
FOR BLANCPAIN
NOT ALL PEOPLE APPROACH A BIRTHDAY IN THE SAME
WAY. TAKE AMERICAN COMEDIAN JACK BENNY FOR
EXAMPLE. HE REMAINED 39 FOR DECADES, OR SO HE
CLAIMED. OTHERS, INSTEAD OF CRINGING, SIMPLY
OWN UP THEIR AGE, SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR ACCOLADES.
Blancpain in a way has a foot in both camps. On the one hand, its
focus is not backwards, but on the watches of today and the innovations for tomorrow. The goodness of a timepiece is found not in
the history of those no longer alive and who played no role in its
creation, but in the inspiration, dedication, talent and skill of the
watchmakers who brought the watch to life.
86 | 87
On the other hand, when an anniversary rolls around, why not
mark its passing in a special way, particularly when the number
is as significant as 275? Basel 2010 furnished such an occasion
as it was the 275th year since Jehan-Jacques Blancpain recorded
his profession as a watchmaker on the village rolls of Villeret.
Ordinarily one or two important timepiece announcements are
sufficient to claim success at Baselworld. For 2010, Blancpain
had a plethora of them. 275 years comes around only once and
it gave extra impetus to the development of new watches for
the fair.
The highlights for 2010 spanned the full range of Blancpain’s
BOUTIQUE ADDITIONS
AND ONE MOVE
collections. At the top of the pyramid there were two special
timepieces featuring Blancpain’s flying one minute carrousel.
There was a time, not long ago, when the list of Blancpain bou-
The first was a new grand complication, the Brassus Carrousel
tiques nestled nicely on a line or two as a footer to Blancpain
Répétition Minute; second the Carrousel Saphir, with its move-
advertisements. What was once a line now is a full fledged
ment plates and bridges fashioned in sapphire. Next in line,
paragraph as the number of boutiques has grown to 25, inclu-
there was the unveiling of an entirely new Villeret Collection,
ding: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Beijing (3), Cannes, Dubai (2), Geneva,
lead by a signature Blancpain complication, the complete ca-
Hong Kong (2), Macao, Madrid, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich,
lendar moon phase, for the first time offered with a full fired
New York, Paris, Shanghai (2), Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Yekate-
enamel dial. Both the L-evolution and Sport Collections saw
rinburg and Zurich.
important debuts including an 8 day power reserve week of
The newest additions on the list are Moscow, Bahrain and
the year watch for L-evolution and a moon phase chronograph
Shanghai (2). One change in Paris. The boutique formerly loca-
for the Fifty Fathoms.
ted on rue de la Paix moves to even loftier quarters, a short
stroll away, directly on the Place Vendome.
To do justice to this rich range of new Blancpain timepieces,
Lettres du Brassus is planning a special issue for the end of this
year.
NEWS
BLANCPAIN CEMENTS A
NEW TIE TO MOTORSPORT
For two seasons Blancpain has been the title sponsor together with
Lamborghini for the Super Trofeo race series. For 2010 Blancpain’s
motorsport profile jumps to a new level as racing’s most prestigious
organization, the FIA, selects Blancpain as the Official Timekeeper for
the GT1 World Championship Series. The GT1 brings together 12
teams, composed of 24 cars and six makes, to compete on ten of the
most storied race courses of the world. The GT1 World Championship
is truly worthy of the “world” title as the race courses are spread
across four continents. An added bonus for motorsport fanatics, the
GT1 races are widely televised on multiple networks and are streamed
live on the GT1 website, www.gt1world.com.
Publisher
Blancpain SA
Le Rocher 12
1348 Le Brassus
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 21 796 36 36
www.blancpain.com
[email protected]
Project Management
Christel Räber Beccia
Editors in chief
Christel Räber Beccia
Jeffrey S. Kingston
Contributors to this issue
Michel Jeannot
Jeffrey S. Kingston
Translations
Susan Jacquet
Concept, Graphic Design, Realisation
a+, Basel, Switzerland
www. aplus-net.com
Art Direction
Gregorio Caruso
Prepress and Printing
Swissprinters Lausanne SA
Switzerland
Photographers
Frédéric Aranda
Blancpain
Jeffrey S. Kingston
Oliver Nanzig
Douglas Perrine
Norbert Probst
Printed in June 2010